


Future Legend

by MissHellfire



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-02-28 06:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13265616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissHellfire/pseuds/MissHellfire
Summary: Non-canonical continuation of Horizon Zero Dawn after the fall of Hades. The story follows Aloy and Erend as they work on repairing the GAIA system and the personal, emotional, physical, and technological problems that they face in their tasks.It's going to be worked on in chapters so please bear with me and may contain game spoilers.





	1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1 

Erend sighed and let his grey eyes fall to the smooth piece of triangular silver metal in his worn leather gloved hands; the blue light on it slowly faded in and out at its own rhythm. It has been a year since everything had a changed: a year since Ersa had died, a year since HADES was defeated, and a year since the beginning of a new era of tinkering in the Sun Kingdom. A year since he had left Meridian with Aloy at the behest of the Sun King, Avad. “A time of rebirth and growth for the Sun Kingdom” was how it had been phrased. Erend was to be Avad’s champion of progress, and the face of Meridian in the areas around the mesas. Erend had never particularly been interested in the politics of the Sun King. He was always more interested in drinking, hunting, and all of the jovial activities that came with being in the vanguard. But now, now, he was the Captain of the vanguard and was being forced to understand why it was important that Avad be seen as the face of change in the world. 

The days after Aloy had defeated HADES were long and slow. They were all given well-deserved time off to rest, and he even managed to capture her time for a full few hours alone. Erend, never thought that would be possible; he figured he would always be the drunkard that acted like a big shot in front of a pretty Nora girl to try and seem impressive in hopes of landing in her bed for the night. But here he was fighting at her side as equals in command, actually helping to fight for the world and not just Meridian. He could still remember the day vividly, a week after the battle, as the carcasses of machines still lay in the fields, being pulled away from the relief efforts for an audience with Avad, Aloy, and the King’s steward, Marard.

It was then that Aloy finally explained everything; “the history of the Old Ones” she said. How their world was called “Earth”, and the Old Ones (“humans”) had created the machines, as they grew more and more technologically advanced. This alone was enough to blow Erend’s mine; the young Oseram had always thought that his people, the clans of the Claim, the tinkers, were always the most advanced. Obviously they were more advanced than the Carja that seemed to be fascinated with their external appearances only. More advanced than the Nora that had overbearing laws and kept themselves isolated while they worshipped All-Mother. And years ahead of the Banuk who seemed so primitive that they made even the Nora seem more advanced.

But no, that’s not how things were. They were the descendents of a long dead race of humans that had destroyed the world, but managed to create a technology so advanced that they were able to recreate the Earth centuries after it was gone. GAIA, Aloy called her, as if she was a person of blood and guts like Erend or Ersa when in reality she was just an image that flickered in front of them on command, was the central player in all of this. This was their mission now, to bring GAIA back online as Aloy called it so that she was able to bring forth more species of animals and plants, and help to stop the creation of new and deadly machines and destroy the old machines while they slept. 

This is why it was so important to the Sun King that Erend be there; so all of the Earth new of the glory of Avad in the coming years as these changes began to occur. He had to admit that after speaking to Aloy he was excited to try some of the new foods that she promised they would have access to. Erend was particularly fond of food, not just eating it of course, but also cooking it. His mind drifted to a memory of sitting at a large campfire; a freshly dressed boar on the spit slowly cooking. The smell of the dripping fat on the flames tickled his nose and made his mouth water. The sound of Aloy’s gentle yet commanding voice in his ears laying out the plan for the next day. His memory quietly changed to a daydream; him standing in the kitchen of his quarters over the spit in the fireplace stirring a stew in the pot; Aloy sitting on a squat stool next to it, her hazel eyes gleaning in the light of the fire, and him looking over at her with a smile on his lips. 

Erend quickly shook the images from his mind and breathed a heavy sigh as he placed the Focus back to the side of his head, brushing the thick silver hoop that hung from his ear. He started to replay the moving images of some of the most recent hunts that they had completed. If only had had the Focus while Ersa was alive he would still be able to see his older sister’s face, hear her laugh, and have a better moment to remember her by then holding her in his arms as she lay dying in Dervahl’s workshop. 

He made his way from the pylon that he was standing near and headed back into the mountain.  
Mountain really wasn’t even the right word; it was as if someone had hollowed it out and built a metal city on the inside.

Aloy had been working at one of the fuse boxes attempting to figure out what was needed to restore power to the terminals. Her hope had been if power was restored she could use the override to restore GAIA to her full capacity. He stood there staring at her long red hair wondering what it would feel like to run his hands against the thick braids. Her brows were furrowed and she quickly beckoned for him to come where she was. 

“Hey, don’t just stand there. I think I figured out what we need.” she said “Where have you been? I’ve talking to you on the Focus for a bit now”

Erend made his way across the dilapidated lab; his heavy armor boots making a resonating sound through the lab. 

“What’s up? What’s missing?”

“It looks as if there is a fried power cell. I think there was a fire here at some point. We need to find a replacement.”

“And where do you want me to find one of those now?” Erend was growing annoyed with the project; he was the Captain of the King’s vanguard, not some errand boy. His past few months had been about finding wires, braids, lenses, and all sorts of miscellaneous machine parts. 

“Should I go to the nearest market or merchant to find it?”

Aloy shot him an annoyed glance, her mouth turning into a tight frown. 

“Yea sure, and why don’t you pick up some beads while you are at it” she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Erend flinched inside, why was that so attractive he thought to himself. 

“No, we are going to hunt, should be able to pull them from some of the bigger machines. I think I saw a few thunderjaws past the meadow.”

Erend’s mouth fell open. “Thunderjaws” he thought? This would be their craziest hunt yet. Each day it seemed that they become more and more outlandish. 

“You’re serious about this? Thunderjaws?”

“Yup. Grab your pack I’ll meet you by the fork in the road.”

He begrudgingly trotted back to where his bed roll was; there was no point in arguing. She would always get her way when it came to him. It would have been nice if she had told him what he would have needed, how long they would be gone, etc. It was already midday and the meadow was a walk away. He cursed at himself for not having a pack made of travelling gear. At this point he knew he should always have one prepared. Erend hastily threw together the essentials and quickly made his way to the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! First chapter in my first ever fanfic. So anyone that reads going forward knows, imagery is obviously from HZD but with inspiration from the witcher and the elder scrolls to flesh out the areas we might not have seen HZD.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2 

Aloy stood at the fork in the road mindlessly flipping her Focus on and off to scan the area. A boar here, a turkey there, the occasional fox and raccoon. What could possibly be taking him so long she thought to herself. She slowly considered taking off on her own without him, it would certainly be a better use of her time after all. But no, she wanted him to be there; she quickly started to brush out non existent wrinkles in the leather skirt of her Nora armor. Once she felt that task was completed she started working on straightening her brown tunic and the woven over layer. She finally felt settled after she moved her fingers through her wavy red hair attempting to smooth it out. She took solace in the small acts before he arrived even though it baffled her as to why she did it. 

She pressed her Focus again and was able to finally see the purple outline of his form coming down the dirt path. She felt her heart jump and a smile spread across her lips. Aloy did one last hasty grooming before forcing the smile from her face. 

“Took you long enough” she shouted at him  
Erend replied but was still too far away for her to make out what he said clearly. 

“What was that” she said with smirk as he rounded the last bend to meet her. 

Erend’s voice caught in his throat as he caught her hazel eyes and gazed at the smirk on her face. 

“Nothing” he mumbled. 

Aloy rolled her eyes again before kneeling to the dirt path. She picked up a twig that was resting near her foot. 

“Ok. If we follow this path to the east we can make it to the meadow by sun fall. 

Erend gulped, “Oh, we are going to be camping overnight?”

Aloy looked up in a small panic, “crap, I forgot to tell him that” she thought to herself.

Aloy meekly replied with a small nod, her red braids bouncing in the wind. 

Erend’s face began to flush, “I didn’t bring a tent”

Aloy’s eyes darted away from his and back to the dust drawing in front of her. 

“Oh, yea. I’m sorry I forget to say that. But it’s fine we can just bunk together tonight.”

Erend just stared at her as she idelly drew the path to the meadow, his heart was began to race as if he was preparing for a battle. 

“Great, that will be great. Thanks” he said quickly before changing the subject to their travel plans. 

“What’s the terrain like leading up the meadow? The type of machines?” He chastised himself in his for asking such silly questions. They had made their way through their before and knew what to expect. 

Aloy began to draw again, scratching out a river that ran along the path and what appeared to be some trees. 

“There may be a few snapmaws along the left up further; the creek up here,” she pointed to the small trickle of muddy water that laid ahead of her, “turns into a sizeable flow of water as we go down stream. Might run into a couple striders, maybe a grazer or long legs. Nothing we can’t handle.”  
She stood up and brushed off any dust that may have blew onto her armor. 

“Shall we” she said to him before leading off the winding trail. 

They made their way along the bath gathering whatever herbs they encountered making small talk about the progress of their project. 

Aloy’s whole face seemed to light up as she discussed seeing the control boards light up as they replaced fuses and decoded panels. Each bit of corrupted data that was repaired, each Focus that was brought online, or each component of GAIA that was discovered made her seem like a child at a feast or celebration. Each small step made her feel closer to finding whom she was meant to be. 

Erend knew the story of her being discovered at All-Mother mountain and how the Nora made her an outcast at birth. But in the year since their first victory he slowly started to see how important this was to her as a person. He could see her finding herself, finally getting to know her family. They both knew that there was more to it than that, that her creation and birth was nowhere near as simple or traditional as his, but it made her feel normal in that regard. 

The last time he saw her face light up in such a way it was when she had finally found the grave (and that’s using the term loosely) of the woman that was effectively her mother and she was able to hear Elisabet’s voice. And even that was fleeting; Aloy knew that she had died centuries before and that there was no hope of her actually being there, but part of her heart broke that day when she saw the armored body sitting on the bench. Aloy had reached out and took the small Earth medallion that had managed to survive for thousands of years and hung it from her belt.

He remembered her silently crying and listening to the recording in her Focus again, that night as they bunked down. He sat outside her tent and told her how the daughter she was describing had come true; that she was very smart, caring, and the bravest woman he had even met, even braver than Ersa. And that Elisabet would have been proud if she been given the opportunity to meet Aloy. He wasn’t sure if she actually heard him, his words mixed with the desert breeze and seemed to be carried away. But he watched her shadow that was cast from the low glow of the fire. Her fingers tracing the outline of a face that he couldn’t see before retracting to her face to wipe away tears. His heart had ached that night to be able to sit with her, his arm around her, to comfort her and wipe those tears away. He hadn’t had the courage that night. 

But here they were a year later on the trail once more of Aloy’s goal of making Elisabet’s dream come true. He listened to her prattle on about fuses, junction boxes, and hard drive retrievals. Even though Erend was an Oseram by birth, he never felt at home with the tinkering of metal, and was always more comfortable with a warhammer fighting for Meridian. But he didn’t care, as the moons had come and gone he realized he liked when she spoke, it didn’t matter about what,   
Suddenly it seemed as though the sun had dropped from the sky with no warning. The walk on the trail had been much simpler than other times; the machines didn’t seem as interested in attacking as they had before. Erend wondered if it had something to do with HADES. He shrugged his broad shoulders and turned to see a small clearing in the distance; he also saw that the muddy waters had indeed turned into a larger river. 

“You go on ahead and set up camp. I’ll meet up with you soon enough”. He said to Aloy

Aloy looked at him with a look of confusion and annoyance. “What? Why? Where are you going?” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be up there soon. Start a fire.” And he quickly made his way towards the brush on the perimeter of the forest. 

Aloy looked on at him in confusion but decided not to argue; she was weary from walking and the sun beating down on them for the better part of the day. Instead she continued up the winding path till she saw the vibrant green clearing sprinkled with the colorful closing buds of the flowers that grew there. 

Erend, crouched down and sprinted his way towards an overgrowth of bushes on the edge of the water. He quickly tapped the Focus on the side of his head to see a small school of fish leisurely swimming in the water. He tagged 3 or 4 and prepared to catch that nights dinner. 

Erend had never been much of a bow man, they always took too much time, concentration, and patience; three things the young Oseram never seemed to have much of. No, instead he enjoyed the heft of his Claim forged warhammer. The weight that it had in his hands, the resounding noise it made when it came in contact with enemy or machine, the effort that was needed to heave it about his head. 

He had also learned after all the time spent with Aloy about more than just the past and the technology that was all around them. He also learned to use the bow. He realized quickly how much more useful it was to have when you had to hunt. Being in Meridian full time meant that if he wanted a meal he merely had to go to the market and pick up what he wanted for a few shards. In the wild though he couldn’t use the hammer to catch a fish or a boar. 

Yet here he stood with a bow in hand; he grabbed an arrow from his quiver and pulled his Nora bow taunt, brushing the bow string against his thick facial hair, aiming at the purple outline of a fish. He inhaled deep through his nose and as he exhaled he released the string letting the arrow sail into the water picking off the fish. 

He let out a loud cheer as the fish floated to the surface but quickly remembered to quiet down to avoid scaring off the rest of the school. He repeated this action until finally there was a small throng of dead fish floating down stream. Erend sat against the bank and took off his heavy armor boots. There was no need to go wading into the water in them and risk rusting the metal; in fact Erend had traded most of his heavy metal Vanguard armor for more traditional Oseram leathers. As he was removing his outer layer of armor he decided against it; he kept on the tight leather and his maul, instead choosing to only take off his yellow scarf and Focus, deciding instead to put his boots back on. Soon Erend was thigh deep in the water trudging towards the waiting fish; he had managed to kill. He broke an arrow from one and took a piece of wire he had grabbed from his pack. He looped the fish one by one onto the arrow and looped the wire onto the broken arrow. As he finished with the last fish he suddenly realized how far down river he had drifted. 

His gear was almost only a speck on the horizon, when his attention was turned the snarls of a not so distant snapmaw. 

Erend crouched down trying to quickly decide what to do: he had to make it to the bank and make his way back up river but doing so could draw more of the snapmaws attention. Erend slowly backed away from where the snapmaw had been basking in the setting sun. 

After what seemed like time had frozen, Erend turned and made his way for the bank, positive that he was home free. He reached for a rock to help him up the steep embankment and stepped gingerly up the gravel. Instead of a smooth transition from water to ground, Erend’s hand slipped from the rock. He let out a loud exacerbated string of curse words as he fell backwards into the water. 

Before he even had a chance to catch his breath the snapmaw had target Erend and was making his way towards him. 

Erend just groaned and grabbed his hammer from his back. A grin starting to spread to his lips though as he realized the fun he could have with this fight. 

“Bring it on ugly.” he sneered. 

The snapmaw charged towards the Oseram its powerful jaws opening and closing with such force sparks were flying from its teeth. He made a fast sprint to the bank and quickly slid to the beast’s right narrowly avoiding its long, powerful tail. Before the snapmaw could turn and thrash, Erend brought to his side the maul and sweeped it across the snapmaws belly taking out its processor and rendering the animal quiet. Once it had fallen he ran towards its front and brought the maul above his head before forcefully burying it in its skull. The last blow was enough to make the machines head fall limp in a small plume of smoke and spark. 

Erend collapsed backward until his backside, letting his long legs stretch out in front of him. For a minute he even contemplated just laying back and enjoying the sunset. 

He set back towards his gear, shaking out the water from his trousers. 

“Aw damn. Where the hell did the stupid fish get to” he muttered out loud and set off to look for his kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that I will be getting more to machine fights and technology and not just the mushy parts. But please indulge me :)


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Aloy sat on the ground in front of the fire. The sun was setting deeper into the sky and she still had not seen hide nor hair of Erend. She tried to contact him on his Focus but of course he wasn’t answering her. 

She felt herself growing annoyed with the man but also found his attitude endearing. She found herself enjoying being in his company more and more. She made sure of course to not let on though, but ever since that night in the desert that he sat outside her tent, she was unable to shake the fact that they had bonded on a new level. Aloy sighed a small sigh at the memory, hugged her knees and rested her cheek to her knees; it had been a terrible day, emotionally draining, and physically tiring. That night she sat up and cried in grief for someone she never met. Erend, being the forever dutiful vanguard captain stayed outside when she yelled at him to leave her alone. But he never left her side, even though she had secretly wish he would disregard what she had said and come into the tent. 

Yet, here she sat still waiting for him. Aloy was growing more impatient, except there was a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew full well that he was more than capable at handling himself; in fact she felt that he was on more equal footing to herself than anyone else that she had ever fought beside. But she still she was starting to worry about him. 

Finally, she saw Erend saunter up to the camp. He held up a string of freshly dressed fish triumphantly. Aloy found herself breathing out deeply, relieved that he was safe. It wasn’t until he had come into the light of the camp and she looked him up and down that she realized he was looking quite unkempt with a few fresh scratches and bruises. 

His Oseram yellow scarf was looped around his maul on his back, and the coarse hair of his mohawk still had droplets of water clinging to it. 

Aloy sprang from her seat near the fire and rushed over to him. She grabbed at his arms, then his cheek, turning his head this way and that. 

“What happened to you?”

Erend just stood there with a stunned, goofy grin on his face as she looked him up and down, poked and prodded at his body. 

“I, uh, caught dinner!” and walked towards the fire to put the fish on the spit. 

Aloy looked over the fish he held in his hand. “I know that you are better at fishing than this though”

“Oh. Well, might have been the snapmaw I took down”, he looked down and hurried what he was doing. 

Aloy, stunned, just stared at him. She swallowed hard, trying to rid her throat of the lump that had formed. Her first reaction was to yell or scream at him for his stupidity, but instead she was washed in a wave of fear. 

She decided instead to say nothing, but took the opportunity to walk to where he was. She knelt down next to him to help him prepare dinner. 

They worked in silence to rid the fish of any stray scales and set them on the spit to cook. The silence was palpable as they sat waiting for their dinner. Aloy looked over at him finally, looking away quickly when Erend caught her staring. 

“So, you took down a snapmaw huh?”

“Yup. All by my lonesome. Jealous?” he said with a smile on his face, taking his left knee and bumping her right. 

Aloy laughed and bumped his back, “Yup. Caught me. You got to have all the fun and I was here setting up the homestead.”

This sent Erend into a loud roaring laugh, thinking about Aloy sitting at home like some Carja housewife. In that minute though his mind wandered, wondering what that would be like though. Coming home from work in the evening and being greeted by her, ale in hand as they sat together by the fire till they retired to their master bedroom. 

He finally snapped out of when Aloy started waving her hand in front of his face. 

“Yoohoo, Earth to Erend”

Erend shook his head, the earing in his ear knocking against his Focus, breaking the silence with a gentle clinking. 

“Huh?”

Aloy just laughed at him “Where did you go? And what was so damn funny?”

“Oh, uh nowhere, nothing. Just here. I think the fish is done.” He hurried over to the fire and gingerly took the spit from the flame. He placed the fish onto plates and brought one to Aloy and one for himself.

Aloy looked at the steaming plate of fish and breathed deep. “I don’t know what smells better, the fish or the air tonight.”

It was at that moment that both realized how hungry they really were, and without hesitation ate like ravenous animals. They only stopped to giggle or laugh at each other for eating like rabid scrappers. 

After a while they sat their plates down and sat at the fire in more silence. The night was crisp and clear, while the sky was full of stars. They could hear the animals and machines in the distance. 

Erend broke the silence, turning to her, “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

Aloy turned to him. “Well I thought after breakfast we would make our way through the meadow and up to the mountain. It will be about half a days walk. We can stop for lunch and rest up before tracking the thunderjaws. Taking them down shouldn’t be difficult. Afterall I have a big, bad, snapmaw killer with me.”

Erend blushed at her comment and looked at her, catching her eyes. Deep in his gut he had the urge to grab her, hold her, kiss her, nuzzle his head in her long red hair. He reached out one of his large hands for her hair, leaning in closer to her. Aloy sat anticipating his moves, her heart beating fast, her breath caught in her chest. 

“Aloy...” he whispered

“Yeah?” She murmured with a tremble in her voice. 

“You have a fish scale in your hair” he said, reaching out to pluck it from her scalp, coming closer to her still. 

Aloy flushed with embarrassment and reached up at the same time only to have her hand collide with his. Rather than pulling his hand away Erend grabbed hers, entwining their fingers together, pulling her close to him. The light from the fire danced across her face as she blushed and scooted herself closer to him. 

He leaned in, bringing his lips to hers, feeling the softness against his coarse mustache. Aloy, pulled away but for a brief second before pressing closer to him. Erend wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her to his lap. Kissing her again but with more force. Allowing his tongue to gently slip between her lips and playfully flick hers. Aloy, let out a gentle moan and dragged her hands up Erend’s back till her fingers were playing with the thick band of hair that formed his mohawk, running them down the side of his face against his thick facial hair. 

They continued their kiss for what seemed for hours. Hands roaming across their bodies, fingers discovering, lips and tongues playfully engaged. Erend could feel himself getting worked up, and not wanting to take it to far, gently trailed off their kiss, pulling away and looking at her, stroking the side of her face with the curled back of his fingers. He also became painfully aware at how this could turn into an awkward situation with where she was sitting. He shifted slowly pulling her to his side so his arm was around her. Leaning the his chin on the top of Aloy’s hair. 

“Wow” was all Aloy could manage. 

“Yeah… I…” Erend couldn’t seem to find the courage to finish his thought.

Aloy in a panic looked up at him “It’s fine. Don’t worry we don’t have to again…” 

Erend cut her off, finally finding the courage to speak to her “No! I have been wanting to do that for a while. I was hoping it will happen again.” 

Aloy blushed a red that almost matched her hair “I.. I.. would like that. A lot.” she stammered

Erend looked down at her, and lifted her chin so their lips could meet again. “I would too. But I think for now we should sleep.”

Aloy sighed, wrapping her arms around him a little tighter “Do we have too?” 

Erend just laughed, “I mean technically you are in control of this mission so I guess it’s up to you” 

Aloy started laughing and sat up, stretching, and leaned in to plant another small kiss on Erend. 

“Nope. I’m calling it a night; I’m ordering you to go to sleep” she said playfully wagging a finger at him as she walked towards the tent. 

His eyes focused on the her hips as they swayed away, finding his way down to the round athletic curves of her backend and legs. 

“I think I am going to sleep out here tonight, it’s a nice enough” Erend was still sitting by the fire, afraid that if he stood she would be able to see the effect that she had on him. If she did know then she was a damn good sport for not making anything of it. 

Aloy nodded her head in contemplation, thinking about what had happened a few moments ago. 

“That might be best, but just for tonight” she said with a glint in her eyes and a quick wink as she made her way into the tent. 

This only served to make Erend more uncomfortable in his trousers while he unfurled his bed roll and laid down next to the fire. He groaned as he tried to get himself comfortable but could only think back to the stellar moment they had shared. 

Aloy, in her tent, set about getting ready to sleep. She removed the remaining pieces of stiff leather that she had on still and sat on the ground in the softer linen underpinnings. She laid back and pulled a light hide over herself. Smiling at the events of the night, Aloy felt the excitement of feeling Erends hands and lips on her and realized that without knowing it her hands had started to trace the path up and down her body, across her breasts and thighs, that his had taken earlier.

Erend laid in the light of the fire, covered in a thin fur, looked over at the tent, wanting to climb inside and lay next to her. He looked down towards his waist and realized that wouldn’t be happening that evening. Instead he tried to calm himself by focusing on the sounds around him. Erend swore he could hear a gentle moaning from the tent and he knew he would only be able to go to sleep one way that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments are appreciated! But be constructive, not cruel. This is it for now. More to follow soon-ish.


	4. Chapter 4

Aloy awoke to the light shining into her tent, she rolled to her stomach and smiled thinking about the evening before. She sighed and stretched, forcing herself up and dressed. Instead of light travel wear she decided that she would wear her full Nora armor today, she hesitated to put it on right away though and instead bundled it together and placed it just outside her tent. She shook her head to herself thinking about how silly it was. Erend had seen her for the better part of the last year, even when she was at her worse, and now she was worried about how he might see her?

Aloy decided since Erend had caught dinner the night before she would be responsible for breakfast. She snuck from her tent to the backside of their camp, tapped her Focus and scanned the surrounding areas for wildlife. In the distance she spotted a boar. Aloy, not needing the assistance of the Focus, quickly strung her bow and let fly a hardpoint arrow quickly taking down the animal. She trotted triumphantly to gather the meat 

As Aloy neared the camp she swore she could hear Erend still snoring. 

She tiptoed over to wear he was, despite his height and heft he seemed quite fragile and vulnerable under his fur blanket. His head faced away from her and a small puddle of drool was forming at the corner of his mouth, she gentle shook him trying not to startle him. Erend’s eyes shot open as he gasped and looked around in a state of confusion. 

Aloy laughed and said “Good morning”

Erend, still not sure of his surroundings, wiped the drool from his mouth and facial hair, then smiled when he remembered where he was. 

“Good morning to you too” 

Aloy squatted down and stuck the butchered boar in his face. “I got breakfast for us, you should get up.”

Erend nodded his head, stretched and in a quick fluid motion pulled her by her waist to where he was. He kissed her deeply before letting her go. 

“I’ve been waiting a long time to say good morning to you like that.”

Aloy smiled at him, put her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his.

“I hereby give you permission to do that as often as you please” and kissed him gently. “But now we have to eat, pack, and prepare.” 

Aloy set to work, wrapping thinly sliced portions of the meat in damp leaves so that they could smoke for the trail, and the other portion put directly on the flame for them to eat now. 

Erend rolled up his, surprisingly comfortable, bed roll and then set about doing the same to her tent. He thought to himself that they would have to come back this way again tonight and that they wouldn't have enough time to make it to the bunker. Maybe he would be able to sleep next to her tonight. He decided he wouldn’t push it, he was going to let whatever this was breath.

He completed his task, looked over his shoulder at Aloy working on the boar, and set about for a quick constitutional to the river.

Aloy, watched as Erend made his way from camp towards the river. In the past year she had gotten use to him taking some time to himself in the morning. She could appreciate that, as whenever she was in large groups or with others to long she needed the same time to her own thoughts. 

She was still trying to understand what had happened all the sudden the night before and was wondering if it would change things between them. She needed both of them on top of their game with the work they were doing; they couldn’t risk silly mistakes at this point. 

As Aloy finished getting their breakfast ready Erend made his way back to the fire. It was at that moment she decided that she would clear the air with Erend. 

Erend came back to the fire and saw on Aloy’s face that there was something on her mind. His heart dropped a bit thinking he had been mistaken in his actions. He looked at her and asked her directly what was wrong. 

“I don’t want what happened to change how we fight. I can’t have you worried about me and I can’t be worried about you. We have a lot to accomplish but I know we can do it”

Erend shook his head in agreement, trying to not show the look of relief that he was feeling. 

“No, no, I’m with you. Nothing changes.” he stated as he took a big bite of meat, flashing a toothy grin full of half masticated boar. 

“Good. Then move your ass, we’re burning daylight.” 

As they walked, they talked and planned their strategy. The beauty was in the simplicity of it:

They each would take a ropecaster; Aloy would sneak towards the back (she was obviously the most stealth of the two) and Erend would take the front. They would tie down the thunderjaw and each take a weakness. Aloy would first disable the primary weapons on the front and top so Erend could use his maul at the beast’s belly, and Aloy would use her bow to hit as many weak points as possible. 

Now the only hurdle was to make it happen. 

Erend and Aloy made their way to the valley where the thunderjaws had been seen last and without fail they were there waiting. Aloy crept to the right finding in coverage in the overgrowth along the edge of the valley. Tapping her focus she scanned the land for any other hidden predators that may be lurking. She motioned with her hand for Erend to take the left and to keep low. She sprinted and slid in the pockets of tall grass all the while trying to keep her focus on the movements of their target. She silently prayed to the All-Mother that they would be quiet enough to not be detected. The last thing they needed was for this mission to go sideways. 

Erend made his way to his left, keeping Aloy in his peripheral vision to the right. He tried to make himself as compact as possible and silently cursed himself for wearing the heavy Oseram armor. He knew he would be grateful for it though once the fight commenced. Erend wasn’t able to sprint and slide as gracefully as Aloy; he half looked like a boar imitating a goose: a pig that waddled. Slowly but surely though he found himself in position. 

He tapped his Focus and whispered to Aloy. “Ok, I’m ready. It looks like he is pretty calm right now.”

Aloy nodded in agreement, then quickly realized that Erend wasn’t able to see. “Ok. On my count.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This one was a little more difficult to write. Trying to make sure to properly capture an altercation between Aloy, Erend, and a machine


End file.
